1993-1994 Harry Singer Foundation National Essay Contest

Responsibility, Who Has It and Who Doesn't and What That Means For The Nation

Teachers: J. Croce and J. Lanzarotta

Central Islip High School, Islip, New York

3rd Linda Cheung

Students in New York uncovered many lawsuits by people who handled guns irresponsibly:

"A little boy was in his mother's room playing with a handgun and it accidentally went off. The bullet went through the little boy's leg. The mother sued the gun (manufacturer) for not putting a warning label on it that said to keep guns away from little children and keep it locked up somewhere safe."
Trang Le, Central Islip High School, Central Islip New York

Whatever Happened To Common Sense?

"A woman tried to sue a sneaker store for selling her sneakers that were a full size below her actual size. The woman claimed that due to the inadequately sized sneakers, she had received an ingrown toe nail on both feet and went through much pain and agony. Though the sneaker store may have sized her feet incorrectly, if the lady was experiencing pain or felt confined in the sneakers, she should have realized this instead of walking around for long enough to get ingrown toe nails."
Linda Cheung, Central Islip High School, Central Islip, New York

Linda and Cecil offered more subjective criticisms:

"One major act of irresponsibility, in my mind, involves the Bobbitt case. In case anyone hasn't heard of this case, it involves a wife who has severed her husbands male organ after he presumably raped her. Whether she was justified in this matter or not is not the issue here. While I agree that this is a peculiar case and newsworthy, I don't feel it deserves this much attention. Also the detail in which this case has been presented is distasteful. Not to say I don't feel the public has a right to know, but enough is enough."
Linda Cheung, Central Islip High School, Central Islip, New York

Back